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So, it's not finished by a long strech, but I couldnt wait any longer to share how it's going. I have a few more progress shots of how this came together, but I've worked on it all weekend and am beat so they will come later. So,the title should have given it away. (For the record I dont hunt or fish lol). Still got to change the tail lights and fit the visor to complete the look, but it's close.

So after chasing around with no success for a front swaybar that would clear the barra sump I ended up on the phone to tuff mounts. I called them because I'd been reading that they had an off the shelf job on the way, maybe they did maybe they didn't, either way it wasn't happening soon. So, we struck a deal that we would make one fit by chopping one up, then send it to them and they would copy it,then send us one for our trouble and begin selling them under their brand. So effectively, this ute is going to make it a little bit easier for anyone doing a barra swap into an xa-xg from here out. And for reference, how far away the xg bas was. I Also blew some acrylic over the couple of rust spots I fixed last year. Ordered my new plates. Changed injectors from the 80lb dekas to the id1000's I had at the tuners request. And cooler pipes all on now. Mechanically now it's at add fluids and hit the key. My tuner Jim Giaana is going to come up monday and remove the security in the pcm and change injector values etc so hopefully we can fire it. Still a few little jobs to tick off for the engineers though. Handbrake is one. Because the btr is in the way a few brackets had to be moved/made, but a stock xh cable set up is going to work.

I haven't forgot about y'all, but the I'm away and I want the next proper update to be the final reveal if you will. Suffice to say it now runs (quite well I might add) there are only minor mechanical and cosmetic jobs left. Then off for a tune and engineers report. Backing plates got a tidy up and the new brakes fitted. Made a little bracket and hid a washer bottle under the front. And painted the underneath of the bonnet and tidied up and fitted the blinkers ave headlights.

Boot shot. Gone with the GT tips for the exhaust. Now...if I had gone original...there would've been a single 2-inch grandpa pea-shooter poking out the back - from a 302. Nup. New-old boot mat. Reproduction rear valance. Fitted okay. One of the holes needed a slight adjustment Wiring routed roughly into boot. Wiring cleaned and re-wrapped with insulation tape. Waiting on the bumper to return from the electroplaters. It's been there four three-and-a-half-weeks. Hurry the truck up! That mob worries me..Fern Tree Gully Electroplaters...say two weeks takes five. Went into liquidation in 2015 so I have since found out. Fuel filler sandblasted, epoxied and painted. GT fuel cap tops it off...later Reproduction side markers...originals FUBARed. Spare steel wheel sandblasted, epoxied and painted satin black. New master cylinder. Reco-ed booster courtesy my friends at ABS Fern Tree Gully...who dutifully handed it off to some mob in the Western Suburbs who are the only folk who reco these things reliably in Melbourne - apparently. I'm sure ABS took their cut. Brake lines from GT Ford Performance in Epping. Fit is apparently good. New clutch master cylinder. Edelbrock 500cfm carby and Performer manifold. I wanted a 4-barrel carby and manifold to replace the stocker two barrel set-up. They use the same carby on 250-2V engines....seems a tad undersized to me! A 500cfm is good for an apparently un-modified 302. Word is the Edelbrock is more of a plug-and-play thing compared with a Holley. More my speed! Good news is a ZH Fairlane 4V aircleaner fits like a glove. Bad news is my brother butchered it - so some welded in repairs are necessary. Power steering pump set-up faithful to the original XA falcon offerings. The car was originally un-powered in this respect. New alternator. Original radiator. Original coil and distributor are placed in order to start the beast. Still not sure about the direction the ignition system is taking. It needs to be upgraded from the points-style systen it came with..... Finally....Ebay has been my friend. Gawd I lurv online shopping!

Polished up old Gracey today ready for AFD tomoz. Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

I've moved more times than I can remember... Think I stopped counting houses at 25+ and there's been a lot more than that. Factory is a pretty good deal and only pay for power on top, all else is included. I took the mrs with me today and she was quite happy with it. Already claimed the office [emoji39] Measures up at 12.5m x 11.6m, with a 3.5sq office that looks good enough to store stuff on top of for extra room. Also has a 3.6m bench in the back corner next to the loo. Plus points for landlord having security cameras on the outside of the building. Roller door is remote electric too. Got decent natural light so I won't have to waste power on lighting it all the time and this place has hot water! Lol I'm easily pleased. Roof is high enough to put up my shelving racks, although I probably will cut one upright in half to end up with four ends.

All worked well with no dramas. Did 9 runs from 13.7 down to 13.1 Mph sitting at 103. 104 Didn't make the final but learning the car still and the stall off the line Best run below It a pb for the car not just with the auto. So good thing and shows the old auto was not up to speed Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

First start in over a month with the new fuel system and carby straight out of the box. Idled unexpectedly well and no throttle on start up missed the sound of the snappy crossay. Chased the fuel leaks for about 10 minutes but sorted them out. Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Soooooooooo convertor is in and it feels somewhat odd compared to a Dominator set convertor like I'm use to but word is thats how they all feel from TCE. Long as it 60ft's the car will be faster anyway. Driving it around town feels good but never know till the timers tell the story. That said doing some 1/8th mile stuff Sunday @ Wilby on a what many say is a very basic un prepped track. Thoughts are if I can get it to hook there It should put me and the car in good position to hook @ PCM the week later on there even worse track. So I'll get more aggressive on the bottom bars,one more turn of right preload on the anti roll bar,add more front compression and more rear rebound all while trying 2 sets of tyres. the 28" MT's and the 26" units. Fingers crossed I find a happy medium in the set up without having to do 78 laps.

I have about 300 photos from the show, I'll put some more up later. Had to do a starter motor swap last night on the XD. But she made it to the event this morning. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

After a bit of thought (and a beverage or two) I've decided to pull my head out of my ass and change my up game plan a bit, ive just dropped my head I ported off to my mate who has a machine shop to get surfaced and a valve job when I get it back I'm going to re-assemble the xflow and put it in the xp alot milder than originally planned, ive given myself a month from today to start working on the customline again as it's been off the road for 2 1/2 years now and I'm sick of it being an ornament, I now have a deadline to finish it, it has to be done by the 7/5/2020 for my wedding and there is a long road ahead with it, if I don't get started now I have no chance of making it so hopefully you guys will see some action here in the not too distant future

Sneak peek : Straight as a mofo. All that sanding and re-sanding paid off. BUT. I'm not the worlds greatest spray painter so it's a tiny bit peely. It's a factory finish rather than a schmick custom job - kinda a bit like my AU . Straight on... it looks the goods...but at an acute angle which has the effect of aggregating all the little peaks - the refection ain't perfect. This will either grow on me and I'll accept it...or I'll risk a "sand through" and smack it with a bit of 1500 grit and a polish. Now I've remembered how to use Flikr...I'll endeavour to post some more updates.

Found these from AJR Photography Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

This old girl was beautiful, straight out of the '70's....

Here at SA AFD Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

Confession time. The cowl on my ute was the first and only cowl I've ever done at work, and as with most things its not rare too make a mistake on your first attempt. Clearly I messed up somehow and the cowl has always been 4mm higher at the back on one side than the other but it was decided to ignore it. But now that I'm hopefully getting closer to paint I decided I couldnt live with it and decided to go and fix it tonight. although i really should have fixed it a long time ago. I simply made a cut down the side, taped it down where it needs to be and put some glass on it and it's now miles better. I used to be able too see the difference against the black band around the windscreen but now it looks straight. I don't have any before and after photos though sorry as I just wanted too cut it and be done with it. This should in no way reflect on the quality of our products by the way, we would never send anything like that too a customer. We only let it slip because it was mine.

Ok, lease signed, money paid, got the key and organised power (meter reading Monday, analogue meter). Things will start moving soon, probably go round today or tomorrow and see if I can work out how to make it all fit.

Evening everyone, thought I'd put up a post on the Red Centre Nationals that has kicked off in Alice Springs today with the opening parade around the town. There is approximately 800 cars entered into the event making it one of Australia's biggest petrol head events. The bonus is that you can drive you modified car around Alice for 5 days, no matter how hard out it is. Some pictures to start the thread from the parade. I have been pretty bias towards the Falcons. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So moving forwards again after many weeks of parts and freight So Got a full rebuilt 450hp street strip auto from rocket here and the 3000 stall back from being redone to lock earlier in the range. I will be running it on the 6th sept round. It better work out as all this was not cheap Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Red Centre Nationals start Friday, if anyone is interested I can start a thread with photos? Any Ozfalcon members coming up? The XD went through tech inspection, the NZ number plates got a bit of attention, the only real query was that it didn't have the original steering wheel??? I laughed and said don't look to hard at the rest then, the tech guy liked how my "Cleveland" was presented hahahaha Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here's a couple of my xh and my old xe and my mates xe

Fitted up the control panels with an original AM radio, and the new cluster. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It was meant to be [emoji39]

So being changed to night shift last week has had me all fucked up but tonight after i woke up I went out to the shed and started to put te xflow back together so head is on, valvetrain, water pump (I'm using a xa style one to delete the clutch fan mount as it would've hit the radiator), intke and a few other bits but being 2.30 am it's too late to replace Welch plugs or make any noise so I'm just going to go inside and watch the live feed from drag week I'll do more tomorrow

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ...." Bought some 3.5" mild steel exhaust pipe and a 90 mandrel bend. The bend wasn't tight enough for what I needed so had to make it all in pie cuts. Tig welded the lot and it turned out pretty good. Smoothed the welds off. Got some smaller 90 bends for the wastegate pipes out of the turbo manifold and into the dump pipe. The Tial Wastegate came with the V Band clamps which was good. Worked out where to position it and welded the pipes in. I'm gonna make a screamer pipe for it later so I can block off the dump pipe outlet and turn the wastegate and the screamer pipe will run down the side and into the trench I made before. Next up, mount the radiator.

Engine uses oil and smokes too much, especially for 70,00 km. So... heads are off, have been stripped and inspected. 1) Engine is pretty clean inside, probably because it's always getting fresh oil from needing to top it up 2) Oil deposits in exhaust port 3) Chambers were all like this. Plugs fouled but somehow ran fine (the MSD probably helped) 4) Weird scoring on one seat, either from new or from the valve face 5) Seriously crap daggy bits inside the ports 6) Anyone who likes umbrella seals, take a geez at this. Every one was at least split in 3 places, some smashed or missing the tops. I reckon they'd be softer if made from bakelite. At 70,000 km, that is rubbish 7) My head jig, for both disassembly and porting. The idea is that I can have both heads and all the ports lined up so I can be consistent with each shaping operation.

Spotted this xk or xl today Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

Got a few things done on Gracey this weekend. Plates Interior resprayed Dash mat fitted to cover the cracks. Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

So you changed the pavers so piss heads don't trip. Don't want them falling over if they are "two tanked" [emoji23]

Then this little one parked at work Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

Yeah the current owner is a regular on the mv bookface page. We were trying to convince him to paint it like this one haha. He wouldn't go for it... Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I was having an "off" day for whatever reason today. So I made myself feel better by tinkering on a couple things for my better half. Tricky to photograph but this is a shelf thing to sit over the microwave. It'll get a timber top probably at some stage. I mixed up the depth and height measurements, so it's taller than I intended. But she's happy, loves it, and said it gave room for baskets between the shelf and the microwave. Bonus [emoji4] Also fixed her outdoor /garden chair which had broken it's hinge welds, but no pics of it.

Some progress . Turns out the xf had chopped super lows in the front , possibly why it drives like a brick . I've fitted some Kffl -0 springs xg/v8 super lows .. so once I fit the 4litre it will come down and sit nice .. And yeah pulled all the unwanted electrics, I just need some front door trims and fix a front crank seal leak then hopefully look at getting a road worthy .. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

thx man, still more it in. Alot of driver error banging the rev limiter in 1st and 2nd real hard and bottle has had 8 passes on it so its low on pressure. 10.992 @ 119mph 1.54 60' Oh and how many times I friggin changed from 1st to neutral. The reverse pattern VB fucked me up. I'll get used to it but the rev limiter got a real good work out last night for sure.

Brought Lucy lu out of hibernation today. Gave her acwash and polish plus a bowdens lazy wax. Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

I got some el gt wheels .. I decided I had enough of the snow flakes .. sorry about the poor photo Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maths was never my strongest subject but....

Fixed the front height problem. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't personally have FB and never will. My ex wife did a profile up many moons ago with my name on it just so she can her status say married to....... once that greedy swamp monster left, I got the kids to delete it, wasn't interested in the slightest in it. Yes theres heaps of cheap cars that pass through, but I cant stand the bullshit people dibble at work just between us, let alone what they dibble on their for the whole world to see. I have better things to do then hear about how you are down the coffee shop have cake with such and such, do not give two shits. People live their whole lives on that stupid website. I remember the days before FB, text messages and playstation.... people actually went out, sat at a park, went to the beach, did something, that didn't require them to stare at a small screen for hours and hours on end

My rims arrived today and 10 minutes later they were at Bridgestone having new tires fitted. Will have to wait until Saturday to get the car out of the shed to get some better pics. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I got an omelette macine. Her name is Chloe.

8==[emoji109]==D[emoji97][emoji97] Hows that? Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Smile and wave boys, smile and wave boys ,smile and wave

I saw this recenlty at Ocean grove Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

And I got some pretty pictures sent to me

It's deceptively simple to do and I've stuffed it heaps, but because you're trying to grind at a low angle you aren't losing much per grind. This is how I figured it out.. (this came from an old forum thread- http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/65793?page=5) I've probably done it slightly different to that but mostly in the angle of approach so the cutting edge is a bit flatter/straighter relative to the central point. It's that pesky point I have most problem with, getting it in the middle so it doesn't wander around when you drill. Also the length beyond the cutting edges makes a big difference to how easily it cuts without walking all over the place.